On This Date: Swimming World Record Set in Santa Barbara

The date was July 7, 1940 at the AAU National Championships held in Santa Barbara, California. The venue was the Coral Casino, a seaside beach club that had a pool and diving platform very close to Olympic proportions.

It was the final day of the meet that saw Adolph Kiefer, a prominent swimmer from Chicago, dominate while re-writing two world records on top of a handful of American records. He completed his performance by setting the world record in the 110-yard backstroke, for which he was credited with the world’s fastest time in the 100 meters and 100 yards.

The entire event lasted four days. Later that year, the 1940 Olympics were called off because of Nazi aggression in Europe.